“Did you accept his proposal?”
“Yes, I did.”
“What work did you do for Mr. Ippolito?”
“I searched the employee files at Centurion and made a list of all stockholders and gave it to Mr. Sturmack. I transported large sums of cash from a Mr. Martin Barone to the offices of Albacore, which are on the floor below Mr. Ippolito’s office in the Safe Harbor building. I did many other routine jobs for Mr. Ippolito, including the disciplining of a loan shark who reported to Mr. Barone.”
“What was his name?”
“Ralph DiOrio.”
“How did you discipline him?”
“I beat him into unconsciousness with a black-jack.”
“Did Mr. Ippolito ask you to commit any other violent crimes?”
“Yes, he ordered me to arrange three murders.”
“Did you do so?”
“Yes.”
“Who were the victims?”
“The first was Mr. Stone Barrington, who I now realize escaped death.”
“And who carried out the attempt on Mr. Barrington’s life?”
“Vincent Mancuso and Manolo Lobianco.”
“Did Mr. Ippolito subsequently learn that Mr. Barrington had escaped death?”
“Not to my knowledge.”
“Who were the other two murder victims?”
“Vincent Mancuso and Manolo Lobianco.”
“Why were they murdered?”
“They had been arrested on other charges, and Mr. Ippolito was concerned that they might connect him to Mr. Barrington’s death.”
“Who carried out these two murders?”
“Thomas Cosenza and Joseph Zito.”
“How were they murdered?”
“On Mr. Ippolito’s specific instructions, they were shot in the head and dumped into the Pacific Ocean with weights attached.”
Rick wrote something on a piece of paper and showed it to O’Hara. “I show you a name; is this a name you recognize?”
“Yes.”
“For the purposes of this interview, you will refer to this person as Mr. X.”
“All right.”
“Did anyone ask you to do anything with regard to Mr. X?”
“Yes. Mr. Ippolito instructed me to have the wife of Mr. X kidnapped and held until I received further instructions from him.”
“Did you do so?”
“Yes.”
“Who conducted the kidnapping?”
“Vincent Mancuso and Manolo Lobianco.”
“Where was she taken?”
“She was moved daily from one location to another.”
“Did Mr. Ippolito ask you to contact Mr. X to arrange the return of his wife?”
“No, I believe others did that.”
“Do you know who?”
“Other employees of Mr. Ippolito. I don’t know their names.”
“Did Mr. Ippolito ask you to do anything else with regard to the kidnapping of Mrs. X?”
“When Mr. Regenstein asked me to help in the recovery of Mrs. X, I told Mr. Ippolito. He instructed me to pretend to help Mr. X, but to report all communications to him or Mr. Sturmack.”
“Was Mr. Sturmack involved in the kidnapping?”
“He was aware of it.”
“What was the purpose of the kidnapping?”
“To persuade Mr. X to sell to Albacore his stock in Centurion Studios. Mr. X is a large stockholder.”
“Was there any other purpose?”
“I believe Mr. Ippolito wanted Mr. X to participate in other of his business activities, but I am not familiar with those.”
“I ask you again, Mr. O’Hara, have you given this interview without duress, and with only the seeking of immunity from prosecution as your motive?”
“Yes.”
Rick switched off the recorder. “All right, that’s enough for now. I’m going to get you a promise of immunity from the feds, then allow them to question you in a lot more detail about Ippolito’s, Sturmack’s, and Barone’s business affairs.”
“I’ll have a lot more to say,” O’Hara said.
“Good.” Rick picked up the phone on the man’s desk and dialed a number. “This is Rick Grant; I’m arresting a man who has given me a statement implicating a number of other people in serious crimes. I want a secure hotel room arranged for himnow, where he can be interviewed in greater depth. Yes, I’ll hold.” He covered the phone. “I’m going to move Billy now, then we can talk again to Cable and Rubens.” He went back to the phone. “Good. Send an unmarked car and two detectives to the Centurion Studios security department now to pick up my man. His name is William O’Hara. Yes, the same. Got all that? Good.” He hung up.
Less than ten minutes passed before the two detectives arrived.
“Put him in the back of the car, no cuffs, no fuss, and take him to the hotel,” Rick said. “Then get his house keys, go there, and get him some clothes. I don’t want him touched.”
The men departed with O’Hara.
Rick picked up the phone again and called Hank Cable at the FBI. “Hank,” he said, “we’ve got a witness against Ippolito, Sturmack, and Barone.” He gave him the name of the hotel. “Can you and Rubens meet us there in an hour? Ask for me at the front desk.” He hung up and turned to Stone. “Let’s get over there; I want Cable and Rubens to interrogate Billy. Once that’s done we’ll know our next move.”
60
Stone was shaken awake by Rick Grant. He was laying fully dressed on a bed in one of the two bedrooms of Rick’s secure hotel suite.
“Come on into the living room,” Rick said.
Stone looked at his watch; it was seven-thirty in the morning. He followed Rick into the living room, where two video cameras, two tape recorders, and some lights had been set up. “Where’s O’Hara?” Stone asked.
“We let him get some sleep,” Rick said. “Hank and John have pretty much bled him dry, and it’s all on video and audio. They want to talk to you.”
Stone sat down and poured himself some coffee from a thermos. “How’d it go, gentlemen?”
“It went very well,” Hank Cable said, “but he may not be all we need.”
Stone didn’t like the sound of that. “Why not?”
“He’ll be a good witness, but a defense lawyer of the quality that Ippolito and Sturmack will hire will give him a very hard time on the stand.”
“So?”
“Sturmack and Ippolito will take the stand and say that sure, they hired him to help in acquiring the Centurion
